Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers

July 21, 2009

The California Association of Psychiatric Technicians is picketing Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk on Wednesday. It's the first of weekly pickets the union will stage at facilities around the state, CAPT spokeswoman Brady Oppenheim tells us.

The goal of the rolling protests, according to the union's media advisory, is to "... draw attention to ongoing cuts that are not only hurting employees, but also the vital services Psych Techs provide to Californians in their care."

CAPT wants the state to lift a hiring freeze at 24-hour facilities, trim or completely eliminate furloughs and pull back layoff proposals that would affect about 300 of the union's members.

On October 14, The Sacramento Bee will temporarily remove commenting from sacbee.com. While we design the upgrade, we encourage you to tell us what you like and don't like about commenting on sacbee.com and other websites. We've heard from hundreds of you already and we're listening. Please continue to add your thoughts and questions here.
We also encourage you to write Letters to the Editor on this and other topics.

About The State Worker

The Author

Jon Ortiz launched The State Worker blog and a companion column in 2008 to cover state government from the perspective of California government employees. Every day he filters the news through a single question: "What does this mean for state workers?" Join Ortiz for updates and debate on state pay, benefits, pensions, contracts and jobs. Contact him at (916) 321-1043 and at jortiz@sacbee.com.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK

Now on the State Worker column

State Pay Database

This database allows you to search the salaries of California's 300,000-plus state workers and view up to four years of their pay history.